Career Tip Tuesday: Let Your Job Alert Do the Work for You

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - JULY 1: Deven Trabosh checks her computer for emails in response to her Craigslist advertisement offering to sell her home along with the chance to marry her July 1, 2008 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trabosh also tried eBay but the company removed the listing because they say they don't let people sell themselves on the website. Trabosh is a single mother of two girls and has been divorced for eight years and decided to combine the search for a husband and the sale of her house into one. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(2008 Getty Images)

Job alerts are a critical resource to have if you’re actively searching for a job or attempting to transition between careers.

What is a Job Alert?

A job alert is a personalized, automated email that sends a listing of new job opportunities matching your search criteria on a job board. Job alerts are typically free and easy to create. Some job boards may allow you to create only one job alert per email address. iHispano.com allows their members to create multiple alerts using one email account.

Save Time During Your Job Search

Job alerts do the majority of the work by emailing you new, tailored job listings. Now you can avoid having to enter your keywords every single time you’re looking for a job. You might want to consider creating more than one job alert depending on the type of job you are looking for.

Create Your Job Alerts

Customize by keywords, location, or industry and select how often you would like to be notified. You will then receive an email with the following information:

• Job Title

• Company Name

• Location

From these emails you can click on the links to view the full job description and apply to the position (see sample job alert below). You can always edit your job alerts by modifying your desired keywords, industry, and/or location.

Why Create Multiple Job Alerts?

Here are a few examples of why you might want to have multiple alerts.

1. You currently live in Chicago and work in marketing. A job alert will alert you about new marketing jobs in Chicago that might be of interest.

2. You currently live in Chicago but are looking to move to another city or state. You create a job alert to see the types of positions that are available in those areas.

3. You currently have a job in marketing but you’re thinking about switching careers to a different industry. A job alert will show you available jobs and the requirements that the companies are looking for.

Already Have a Job?

You don’t have to be actively pursuing another job to set up a job alert. Creating job alerts is important because it keeps you updated on new available jobs in your area (you never know when you’ll decide to switch careers). By seeing jobs that are similar to your current position, you can stay up-to-date on what is going on in your job market.

Job alerts are helpful during your job search and valuable time savers. Although, that doesn’t mean you should stop searching for a job. Job alerts are meant to be a tool that will help you in your search, not replace it.

Maribel De La Rosa-Rangel is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at iHispano.com, the nation's premier professional networking site and job board for Latinos in the United States, and the Vice President of Communications for ALPFA's Chicago Chapter, the largest Latino association for business professionals and students. Follow iHispano.com on Twitter @iHispano and on Facebook to stay up-to-date on the latest career tips and job opportunities.